


The Frozen Kingdom on Flames.

by Redlock13, TheTragicNoir



Series: Chronicles of Remnant: Team JAQK [5]
Category: RWBY
Genre: Action/Adventure, Anarchy, Canon Related, Family, Fantastic Racism, Friendship, Gen, Military Academy, Rebellion, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Slice of Life, Teenage Drama
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-05
Updated: 2018-10-05
Packaged: 2019-07-25 08:50:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,957
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16194173
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Redlock13/pseuds/Redlock13, https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheTragicNoir/pseuds/TheTragicNoir
Summary: One year before the beginning of RWBY, our focus are on two teams of young and talented warriors seeking to become the next generation of proud Huntsmen of Atlas Academy. Team CAMP and Team JAQK will face the demanding trials that come with becoming Huntsman as well as the challenges that come with living as teenage outcasts in Atlas. Together, they'll face one of their most difficult year in their lives, as they fight foes pulled right out of their deepest nightmares and along the way discover what it really means to become a Huntsman.





	The Frozen Kingdom on Flames.

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: RWBY Characters, places and terminologies with the exception of the Original Characters, belongs to Rooster Teeth Productions.

On August 4th of year 79 AGW, a riot broke out outside of one of the mines owned by the Schnee Dust Company. It was orchestrated by a group of Faunus workers complaining about their poor labor conditions and lower income compared to most human workers in the same line of work. Despite the new policies that The Equal Workers Act of Atlas brought, it’s been said that the company doesn’t respect it and is even willing to pay the 5,000,000 Lien fee. 

Jacques Schnee, current CEO of the company dismissed these accusations as he explained that these claims were nothing but baseless slander since he verified that all the regulations for the miners and the machinery they operate have already been approved… More updates are coming tonight.

In other news, Bismuth’s Metalwork Industries are temporarily closing down their third mine to investigate several cases of gas leaks and possible incendiary incidents in order to avoid another incident like the one which occurred three months ago with SRC Constructions from repeating.

This is Gina Girasol, and you are watching Atlas News Network.

After watching the news on large holographic screen from a luxury bar, a middle-aged man in a military uniform was sitting while drinking a glass of scotch alone. He had grey hair, dark skin and a small mustache; he looked an experienced man but with a lot on his mind. He didn’t drink his scotch. The stuff they served tasted a lot worse than what he was used to.

 _‘So that’s how things are going lately huh?’_ He gave out a disappointed sigh. _‘I hope things won’t get any worse from now on.’_ He said himself while still looking at his glass.

“Not the best news in the kingdom, is it?” Despite the bar looking empty, a mean looking man with black messy hair and a tattered red cloak approached the man with a cheery tone. “Mind paying me a round?”

“Hey Qrow, I wasn’t expecting to see you here in Atlas.” The man in uniform replied while turning to face the rugged Huntsman.

“And I wasn’t expecting to see you drinking on duty, Roi old pal.” The man referred to as ‘Qrow’ said that while gesturing to the bartender to pour him the same drink as the uniformed man before him had on his table. “Is good old Jimmy making you do all the heavy work again?”

“It’s none of that actually. Not this time at least.” The man Qrow referred to as ‘Roi’ took a sip from his glass while cracking a smile. “I got the free night, so I decided to drink something at least before tomorrow’s event.”

“What’s so important for tomorrow?” Qrow asked Roi as he took a sip from his glass.

“Tomorrow we are receiving new students for Atlas Academy and I’m gonna be a teacher there.” Roi said in a not-so proud tone. Qrow widely opened his eyes in shock after hearing that.

“What’s so bad about it? It just means you are going to have much less duties compared to Jimmy.” The black-haired guy asked in confusion about his friend’s situation.

“The thing is I’m not that good with teenagers to begin with.” The uniformed man felt ashamed of himself while taking another sip.

“Are you serious? Don’t you have two boys that you taught how to fight?”

“Yeah, but I wasn’t around for most of their lives. You know, because of my duties.”

“You’re a Colonel from Atlas and you don’t know how to deal with kids?” Qrow was dumbfounded about his friend’s struggles.

“I deal with grown-ups and specialists; I never expected to be helping at a school…” Roi asked the bartender for another round. “…Plus, my boys are going to attending there.”

“So? What’s so bad about that? You’re going to have a lot more time to bond with them.” Qrow said with a laidback attitude as he signaled the bartender for another round.

“That’s easy for you to say, you were a teacher at Signal AND your nieces look up to you like you’re some sort of mythic hero.”

“Meh, I wouldn’t say it’s that easy. I haven’t been with them much because I’ve got my hands full with missions.”

There was a small sign of disappointment in Qrow’s voice. He really missed them. He tried to shift the conversation.

“I taught ‘pipsqueak’ everything I know. While she’s definitely a quick learner, I have to admit, your boy was the best one in his class. You’ve taught him pretty well, old pal.” Qrow praised his friend while asking the bartender to change channels on the screen.

“I only thought him as much as I could. He was only admitted to Atlas on my recommendations. I’m more afraid that he and my son won’t make it through the initiation.” Both men took another sip of their glasses of scotch while focusing their sight on motorcycle race that was on screen.

“You should put a bit more faith into them. Both of them are excellent combatants.”

“Yeah, but that might not be enough.” Roi sighed as he looked at the bottom of his empty glass.

“If you want a tip from me, the best I can suggest is to just listen to what they have to say. Even if I don’t have any kids of my own, I’m telling you as a fellow teacher. It is now your duty to teach a new generation and to help them achieve their hopes and dreams.” For a moment, Qrow’s attitude switched to a more mature tone while he was explaining to the uniformed man.

“Hopes and dreams? I don’t want to sound like a killjoy but you know it is hard to believe that in the times we live in.”

“I’m just saying what you can do. That doesn’t mean I agree with their optimism.” The laid-back guy pulled an antique coin out of his pocket and placed it on the bar. “Want to bet if you should take my approach?

“I’ll pass; you always win every time we flip a coin.” Roi declined that method of betting.

“Oh come on, I’m sure things will be different now. Who knows? Maybe you’ll win this time.” Qrow tried to convince his drinking partner to flip the coin. The other man complied at the end as he rolled his eyes. “Good. Heads or tails?”

“Heads…” As soon as the uniformed man chose, Qrow flipped the coin into the air. It was spinning at a high speed. It made a loud noise as it landed on the table.

“Sorry old pal, I guess it wasn’t your time to shine yet.” The black-haired guy said in a joking tone while delivering the bad news.

“It’s alright; I’m not even surprised…” The uniformed man left his seat and payed his bill for the drinks. “I suppose I now have to try your approach, huh?”

“In the end it’s up to you, and for the record this coin is not a two-face one if that make you feel any better.” Qrow was still in his seat and ordered yet another glass. “Here’s to starting this year off with a bang, Colonel Clover.”

“Same to you, Qrow…” The Colonel left the bar, leaving the other man alone to watch the race and drink by himself.

The snowstorm started to fade away as the night was nearing midnight. The only thing illuminating the sky now was the bright shattered moon. The Colonel was admiring the snow everywhere around him as he was walking outside. No matter how pure it may have looked, it just couldn’t compare to the snow in Vale.

 _‘Starting off with a bang, huh? I wish I could be more like you…’_ Clover was thinking to himself as he took a cab back to Atlas Academy. He needed to take a rest. Tomorrow was going to be a big day.

* * *

  _Dear Argent,_

_We wrote this letter to congratulate you for getting accepted at Atlas Academy, we are super proud of you! You always did say you wanted to become a Huntsman when you grow up, but it’s just that… well… now you’re all grown up. It all just rushed by so fast._

_When we first heard the news, we were afraid that we had lost our son forever, but after a few days of discussing here and there we’ve come to the conclusion that… we just have to let you go. We can’t choose what you do with your life from now on, and we have decided to respect your decisions. Don’t worry, we’ll always love you and we’ll be cheering you on from home. Just remember to never, ever give in to whatever unkind words those snobs at Atlas say. Your spikes do not define who you are or what you deserve; it is your heart that decides that._

_Remember, we’ll always support you no matter what and we wish you the best of luck on the Initiation._

_With love, your very, very proud mom and dad._

_xoxoxoxoxo_  

_Joshua and Miriam Stakes._

_P.S. I’m pretty sure the Atlas library has a communications room, so if you feel homesick, feel free to give us a call. Just saying._

The young Hedgehog Faunus with white hair and pale albino skin was done with reading the letter from his parents for the third time. He was sitting alone while being transported alongside other teenagers on a train. 

“Have you seen that Faunus? He looks unsettling…”

“Yeah, why did they even allow him to sit on the same section with us?” A couple of snobbish girls that were sitting behind Argent whispered to each just loud enough so that Argent could hear it. Needless to say, he didn’t like what he was hearing.

“Did you look at that dude? What’s the matter with his face? He looks like a ghost.”

“I don’t know but I wouldn’t get near him if I were you. He looks like he’s sick or something.” Two Faunus  on the front seat were talking while looking at Argent, he started to feel uncomfortable the longer he was on his seat.

It’s been already an hour since the last stop and Argent couldn’t believe he was still able to ignore all the comments for so long. It didn’t matter for him since he was taking a more optimistic outlook on life. He had high hopes that he’d be able to about meeting new people, hopefully. It was difficult to be accepted in Atlas, but all the effort from Combat School finally paid off.

 _“Next Stop_   _, Atlas Academy: We hope you enjoyed the trip and remember to travel with Mantle Express.”_

The conductor informed the passengers through the loudspeaker that they have arrived at their destination. Argent grabbed all his belongings and then peered through the window to glance at the outside view. Not only was the view great, but he also got a nice look at the astonishing and breathtaking grounds areas, buildings and towers of Atlas Academy. He was in awe as he could see the school with a much more clearly with each altitude descent the vehicle made as it began to land.

After waiting for a couple of minutes for the transport to stop, all the passengers were leaving their seats one by one and calmly exited onto the school grounds. As Argent walked out, he felt the cold winds of Atlas scathe his cheeks before the unusually sharp rays of sunlight blinded him. He tried to cover himself with a cap and sunglasses to avoid direct contact with the sunlight. It was a rare thing for the sun to appear in the sky due to the constant snowstorms and frequent fog engulfing the kingdom.

As he was admiring the marvelous surroundings, he looked at a paper that was given out to the new students. _All students must report at the auditorium at 4:50 pm._ It was 3:34 pm at the time he was reading it, so the Faunus had some spare time to explore before heading there. As he was thinking about what he should do, he realized he was feeling hungry. The food they were serving on the train wasn’t very nourishing or tasty for that matter. His stomach was letting out some very sad growls. He glanced at the map with a confused expression on his face.

 _‘Mhhh, I can’t understand this pamphlet. Should I ask someone for directions?’_ Argent asked himself as he was trying to figure out the map’s weird layout. He tried to ask for directions, but everyone ignored him or outright refused to answer him. The Faunus sighed at his failed attempts, but he didn’t give up on asking for directions.

“Stop joking, you’re just exaggerating.” Argent heard two girls giggling while talking to a guy dressed in some nice looking green clothes. The Faunus overheard them as he was passing by.

“It’s true! All of it. I was surrounded by a pack of Beowolves not very long ago. I just barely survived thanks to my quick thinking and deadly skills. It was just a second. I just let that Grimm rush at me and then BAM! I cut that Grimm’s head off clean.” The guy was telling a hard-to-believe story, the girls were totally buying it. And they loved it. 

“Really? Were you afraid to fight them alone?” One of the girls asked while being entranced by his heroic tales.

“Well, that fight could be ended much faster if I had my bro with me. But it was no big deal. There were days when I handled entire hordes of Ursa by myself”  He sounded pretty proud of himself, keeping a cool tone. The girls started giggling as if to humor him. They were hooked. All Ace had to do now was just to reel them in.

Just before he could do that, Argent decided to walk towards them to ask some questions. As he was getting closer, the girls noticed him and threw looks of disgust and hatred at him. The green clad guy that was telling his story turned around to see what the girls were looking at. As soon as he turned his head, he jumped out in surprise. He didn’t suspect someone other than the girls was so close to him. Not even a meter away from him, a freaky guy with a cap that barely covered the white spikes on the back of his head and some sunglasses on his eyes was standing right behind him.

“Excuse me, but could you please tell me where the cafeteria is?” Argent asked while trying to maintain his composure.

“Ewww go away.” One of the girls said while stepping back away from him.

“Yeah, go back to the woods you came from, critter boy .” The other girl said with the same mean and degrading tone.

“Come on ladies, you don’t have to be so harsh on him. He’s just asking for some directions.” The guy tried to simmer down the conversation before it could escalate with a playful attitude. “Isn’t it our duty as students to help a fellow newcomer?”

“W-well…” One of the girls started to stutter. She was a little embarrassed that thought that her attitude might have ruined her chances with the dashing boy from far away.

“Don’t be too harsh on him.” He grabbed the creepy looking Faunus around the shoulder and pointed at him. “I mean, this guy wants to risk his life to save people. I think who has the guts deserves some mad respect.” The guy said to the girls, they chose to go along with it and drew some threw some artificial smiles at the pale Faunus.

“Why don’t you two go somewhere else and wait for me while I help this guy. How does that sound?” The girls complied while saying goodbye, still holding those smiles on their faces. Argent was fully aware they were faking to look good in front of the guy, but it was nice for once to have someone show him respect.

“Sorry if I caused any problems for you.” Argent tried to apologize that his actions made the girls go away.

“You shouldn’t be. If anything, it’s me who’s sorry for making you uncomfortable. At least now I can see for myself the infamous ‘Atlas hospitality’. I’m telling you, shit like that wouldn’t fly in Vale.” The guy’s tone sounded very sincere and heartfelt. What he was hearing weren’t just kind lies, but deeply held beliefs. Argent at first perceived him as the typical jock type, but now he saw that there was a little more to him than he imagined. 

“It’s alright; I’m used to those kinds of reactions.” Argent replied in a positive mood, as he tried to compose himself.

“Is that so? That can’t be a good thing…I think we should start over then. I’m Ace Clover, nice to meet you.” The charming guy said with a smile while extending his hand towards Argent.

“Argent Stakes, nice to meet you too.” The Faunus shook hands with Ace.

“Whoa that’s a strong grip, dude. Do you practice martial arts or something?” Ace complemented while shaking hands.

“Yeah, kind of...”

“That’s cool. My bro and I practice all the time. Granted, he’s better than me, but I ain’t no pushover either.” Ace commented while they both cracked a small smile. “But anyways, you asked about where the cafeteria is, right?”

“Yeah, this map is confusing.”

“Well it’s not too far from here, just go around those bushes and you are going to see this garden with a fountain on the left. Then there should be a path leading to the main entrance.” Ace gave him the instructions while he pointed in his desired direction.

“I see…well I hope you don’t get lost on the way.” Argent was worried he might get lost due to the weird layout of the place.

“It’s not that hard, all you have to do is…” As Ace was looking around for a reference, a beautiful girl walking in the opposite direction caught his eye. “…well I’m sure you will find your way around. Now if you could excuse me…” He started walking towards the girl, leaving Argent alone.

“What? Where are you going?”

“I…must help other people find their way around too; I promise I’ll help you more when I’m done with helping others.” As he was done talking, he started to style his hair while taking his green bandana off his head. He cleared his throat and approached the girl with blue beret. “Are you lost ma'am? Because heaven is a long way from here.”

“Mhhh?”As the girl turned her head to see Ace, the guy’s expression became one of a poker face. “Clover…?”

“Oh, hi Ciel…fancy seeing you here, heh.” Ace was incapable to smile, as he recognized her in a not-so-happy way.

“I wasn’t expecting you to attend here in Atlas.” The girl’s tone was dull, as not really amused to see the guy too.

“What made you think that? Of course I would attend here!”

“I thought you would come here next year, or just not come at all.”

“Ouch! Those are some harsh words, Ciel.”

As how things were going on the discussion, Argent kept looking at them as how awkward things were on the moment for those two. _‘Huh, I guess they know each other. Maybe I shouldn’t get involved with them.’_ The Faunus kept walking down the way Ace pointed out for him. He was now heading towards to the cafeteria.

He finally found it, but it only offered snacks since there’s still not open for meals. Argent was looking for something good he could buy there. The options weren’t very varied: Potato chips, sandwiches, pies and soft drinks were the only food available, but at least he got a lot of different flavors to choose from. Argent took a slice of apple pie and tea for a quick bite.

“It would be 40 Lien in total.” The cashier said while counting the money.

“40 Lien? But the slice and tea cost 10 each, those said on the prices behind you.”

“It is because we are still not open yet, so the prices are higher for today.” The cashier said in a polite manner, Argent couldn’t argue or barter for those things in a place like this.

“Fine…” The Faunus complied while sighing.

“Stop right there, Milky!” Before Argent could pay for the snacks, a big guy with nasty scars on the left side of his jaw yelled and started to walk towards the Faunus and the cashier.

“Is there a problem sir?” The cashier asked the big guy, he looked dangerous.

“Yes there is. Tell me; are you proud of yourself of ripping off this guy?”

“Excuse me?” The cashier started to sweat and let out a nervous chuckle. Argent looked surprised about what he was hearing. “I’m sorry to inform you that you are quite mistaken, sir.”

“Don’t give me that ‘sir’ crap, asshat. I saw you pulling the same trick on those other Faunus but not with any humans. I’m surprised you aren’t out of a job yet.” Surprisingly for someone of his appearance, he was trying to help Argent out.

“That’s ridiculous, you have no proof I’m doing that!” The possibly-racist cashier tried to defend himself from those accusations. The big guy grabbed him by the collar and gave him a menacing glance.

“Don’t get too political with me, palooka. Do you think you can do whatever the hell you want because you work in this place? If you want, I can make your life a living nightmare from this day onward!” His tone was getting more menacing by the second. It made the cashier shake his leg out in terror.

“Hey that’s enough; you don’t have to do that.” Argent tried to stop the big guy from going too far and making things worse. “I can pay for the snacks; you don’t have to torture him for something like that.”

“But people like him piss me off so much; thinking a maggot like him has power over a stupid store like this.” The big guy said to Argent who tried to calm things down, but that wouldn’t be enough.

“L-look, I can let you h-have those snacks for free if y-you don’t do anything to me, p-please…” The cashier was begging, seeing as he has found himself in very danger spot. The other two guys weren’t very amused by his offer.

“I will, as long you don’t try the same trick again with anyone else ever again. Because if you do…well, let’s just say things aren’t going to be sugar and rainbows for you anymore.” The cashier started to nod desperately, hoping for the big guy to release him. They exited the store, leaving the horrified man inside.

Once outside, Argent took a sip of his tea while the big guy began walking away. “Hey, thank you for that.” The Faunus said in with a friendly tone in his voice.

“Whatever. Just to make it clear, I wasn’t doing it for you.” The big guy said while walking away.

“I mean, it wasn’t necessary to get mad over someone like him.” That comment made the big guy stop in his tracks for a brief moment. He did a 180 degree turn and approached Argent once more.

“Look, Milky. I don’t know your reason for not getting angry at someone like him, but you are way too forgiving to someone whose been treating you like a fool.”

“I know, I really appreciate what you did for me, I really do, but violence isn’t a solution for everything. It doesn’t bother me to pay as much as any other Faunus.”

“Are you serious? What makes you think it is fine to stand for that kind of abuse?” The big guy couldn’t understand Argent’s thought processes.

“Because I know it won’t last long. I’m sure things like those that happened today will change tomorrow.”

“Oh great, now I have another naïve guy to deal with. Just what I needed,” The big guy started to rub his eyes while thinking about how someone like him could hold that kind of mentality. “If you want a word of advice, don’t think things are going to get better from one day to next. It’s just not possible.”

“I know. That is why I’m taking action. So that Atlas will change for the better. And who knows, maybe the will people will change with it.”

“Yeah yeah, suit yourself. Just don’t go whining if things don’t…” Before he could continue talking, a girl with orange hair and green neon lines on her dress appeared behind the big guy.

“There you are, Quinn. I thought we lost you.” She said it on a cheerful manner.

“Oh crap, not you!” The big guy referred as ‘Quinn’ jumped out in surprise and started to run away from her. “Leave me alone!”

“Wait…!” The girl wasn’t able to say anything else to him since he was already gone to hear her. She noticed Argent moments later since he was the only other person left in her vicinity. “Oh. Sal-u-tations fellow student...” She greeted the Faunus in a very odd and cheerful manner. She gave off the impression of childhood wonder and optimism. It wasn’t entirely uncommon to see students like that, but this girl seemed uncanny.

“Oh hi…” Argent was a little confused by what was going on.

“Sorry for interrupting your conversation with the person known as ‘Quinn Heartstone’. He was out of our sight for 2 minutes and 3 second and we just lost him again.” She was speaking in a weird tone, nothing like any normal teenager would ever use.

“I don’t think he was lost, though. If anything, I’d say he was hiding from you.” Argent tried to hint to the girl that maybe her definition of lost was a little off.

“That just sounds nonsensical. Quinn has been informed of what happens if he gets separated from me. If that were to happen, he’d be in trouble. Quinn must surely be confused with the vast layout of this educational complex.” Argent couldn’t believe that couldn’t tell that the guy was ‘hiding’ and not ‘lost’.

“I must go, I still need to look out for him, have a nice day.” She was done talking with Argent and set out on her hunt once more.

Things started to get weirder as Atlesian soldiers ran after the girl. They rushed to her as soon as they spotted her bright ginger hair. _‘Why are soldiers going after her?_ _What was that about? Did she do something? Is she even a student?’_ Argent theorized to himself while walking away to find a place to sit and eat at. Atlas Academy really does bring in all kinds of people.

The Faunus decided to look for a bench to sit at and wait until the assembly could begin. He saw that most of the benches were already occupied by other students, but of course none of them would let Argent even get near them.

He saw an empty bench far from everyone else across the garden; he walked towards it while trying to avoid eye-contact with everyone else. No matter where he went, he felt as if thousands of eyes were following him with sinister looks.

“I wouldn’t take another step if I were you.” A guy with glasses and blue fatigues with camo patterns all over them stopped Argent as he was passing the guy’s left. He was busy doing maintenance on his sniper rifle.

“What? Why?” Argent asked while looking confused, the other guy didn’t look at him because he was still focused on delicately tuning his weapon, inspecting it from every possible angle for any imperfections.

“Look at the ground,” Argent did exactly what he said and noticed he was almost about to step on a potted plant belonging to another student. “It’s this guy’s plant. You should be more careful where you walk next time.” The guy with glasses said while pointing at the student sitting behind him. He wore a nice-looking warm hoodie that was the color of fine red wine.

“Well, thanks for the early warning, although it is quite rare to see that type of plant in this kingdom.” Argent commented as he carefully observed it.

“It is, I don’t know how he got one of those but it grows in the most northern region of Anima.” The guy in glasses explained. He seemed to be quite familiar with the topic.

“Did you ask him how he got it?”

“I did, but he didn’t say a word. I guess he’s the strong silent type.” After commenting, the guy was finished with tuning his weapon and aimed it at Argent’s head, which made the Faunus jump.

“Whoa wait wait! What are you doing?” The Faunus was shaking his hands desperately, begging the guy in the blue fatigues not to shoot his face off.

*clank*

“Mhh, there is still something wrong.” The guy commented after pulling the trigger. He noticed something about his weapon sounded very unnatural. The guy got a cheap scare out of Argent. He didn’t appear to know how to act around other people properly. Despite his actions, he didn’t seem hostile towards the Faunus by any means.

Argent saw that the other guy with the hoodie was sitting while reading a book about agriculture. He wasn’t paying attention to anybody else. “Hi…” The Faunus approached him with a friendly greeting, but the other guy gave no response. “…Is this guy okay?”

“He’s really quiet. I just sat here and he didn’t seem to mind.” The guy with the glasses explained as he disassembled his weapon piece by piece. He tried to take a closer look at it with a magnifying glass to see what was wrong. Argent couldn’t stop himself from noticing.

“If I may ask, have you tried checking the trigger’s springs?”

“The springs…?” The guy with glasses sounded curious as to what the Faunus was referring to.

“Yeah, I change them regularly. Those bad boys get pretty messed up with how much I use them.” As Argent was trying to make small talk by helping out, the other guy started checking the trigger to see if it was the case.

“Oh, I see…” He found the problem; the spring was bent and broken in a hard to see place. “…That’s what, but I don’t have any spare springs.” He sighed in disappointment as he pulled up his glasses and wiped his eyes in frustration.

Argent reached into his backpack, pulled out a small box and extended his hand to the other guy. “Here, you can have one of mine.”

“Are you sure? Don’t you need those?” He was shocked by the Faunus’ offer.

“It’s fine, I can get more.” With all that, the other guy grabbed the box and started to replace the springs for his weapon. He reassembled his rifle piece by piece until it was completed. Something Argent noticed about the guy’s weapon was how old it looked when compared to everyone else’s newer and better models.

*click*

The rifle made a distinctive sound, which left the other guy with a satisfactory face. “Now that’s much better, thanks for that.” He said with a grateful smile.

“You’re welcome, uhh.”

“Diamo, Kingston Diamo.” The guy with glasses presented himself while putting his weapon away for a moment.

“Argent Stakes. Are you from around?” The Faunus asked while inspecting Diamo’s clothing style. He wore old rags, definitely not from Atlas or even Vale.

“Nah, I’m from Mistral. This is my first time visiting Atlas. I never imagined it would be so cold here.” Diamo said while trying to warm himself up by drinking some hot tea.

“You’ll get used to it. Today isn’t even the coldest day of the year.”

“Is that so? We’ll see about that…” Diamo stood up from his seat and kept looking at the Faunus as he picked up his duffle bag. “…It was nice meeting you, Mr. Stakes.” He left Argent alone with the guy in the red hood, making the mood even more awkward.

Argent’s seat had a nice view of the city. A lot of lights and skyscrapers could be seen in the distance. It was still hard to believe he finally made it. He met a few friendly people sooner than he expected and the next day would just be the first step for to becoming a Huntsman.

“Hey everyone…!” One teenager yelled to the rest of the students, including Argent. “…There’s a fight at the front gate!” Everyone left the benches to rush towards the gate. The Faunus got curious and followed the crowd to see what was happening. It was against the rules to start fights on the school grounds.

There were a lot of students and newcomers that created a circle around the center of the fight. Argent tried to move through the crowd to see who was fighting. There was a lot of whispering among the students, but it was hard to hear what they were saying.

As Argent finally pushed through the crowd to get to the front row, he saw the two students that were fighting in the center of the circle. The one with a black cowboy hat was standing there like nothing could touch him, while the other one was walking around the former taunting and mocking him.

“Come on tough guy, why don’t you throw me a punch? Are you really as weak as they say?” The rude student was jumping around while pushing the former around.

“I don’t have time for you, just go somewhere else.” The guy clad in black said with an emotionless tone to the student mocking him. For some reason he gave Argent some really bad vibes.

“Oh, and just what exactly do you have to do? You are not welcome here, you know?” The rude student grabbed the other guy’s hat and started dancing around while the student clad in black stopped in his tracks.

“Could you give me back my hat? I’m not really in the mood for jokes.” He gave a warning to the rude student. Despite his monotone voice, he gave off a radiance of fury which could be felt by most of the students, including Argent. Each one looked at one another with worried faces and took a few steps back, just to be safe.

“Oh you want it back, sure thing…” He spit on the guy’s hat and put it back on his head. His disgusting saliva was dripping down the cowboy’s face. “There, don’t you like it? Hehehehe.” Argent couldn’t understand how that guy could be so calm under such humiliation.

“Are you done? I’m tired of looking at your face.” He said in a calm and uncaring fashion which seemed to enrage the other guy beyond belief.

“You cocky bastard, do something damn it!” The rude guy rushed at the black-hat student, he wasn’t moving but something didn’t feel right about him. At that moment the rude guy threw a punch at him, the cowboy dodged pretty quickly and countered with a swift and solid punch to the jaw.

He was sent flying into a nearby wall. The students and Argent were in shock at how the cowboy reacted. Things started getting interesting when the disrespectful student drew his weapon while the cowboy didn’t. The cowboy just laughed, cracked his knuckles and got into a fighting stance. His eyes were like those of an eagle, ready to strike with deadly precision and extreme speed against his opponent.

“Die!”

**Author's Note:**

> TheTragicNoir:  
> Hello everyone, I've been writing RWBY for quite some time and felt that I needed to make things right now, as going to the beginning. So I asked Redlock13 to help me and work together to create an adventure not only paralleling RWBY but also going beyond since the setting and characters are great but need to expand it. 
> 
> Redlock13:  
> Hello reader. I am Redlock13. For all intents and purposes, I am the editor as well as the main consultant on this project. I got involved with this project after the author (TheTragicNoir) reached out to me to discuss a few ideas they had for a fanfic. I was interested, because I've read some of their work, and I really enjoyed their style. After many discussions and a lot of brainstorming, I offered to help them with polishing up the grammar, so that people don't dismiss all the heart and effort that goes into the work just because of a language barrier. With that being said, we hope you enjoy it.


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